22nd October

It was a real struggle to get much reward from today, with the single figure ringing total at the Obs reflecting a pretty uniform dearth of migrants everywhere - north-westerlies really are rubbish at Portland! The few minor snippets of interest included 5 Crossbills overhead at Wakeham where a likely Siberian Chiffchaff was heard calling, 2 Firecrests at both Bumpers Lane and the Obs and singles of Merlin and Short-eared Owl at the Bill. Routine migrants consisted of just the thinnest spread of routine fare everywhere.It's got to that time of year when we bid farewell to another assistant warden: it's probably fair to say that our visitors - members and non-members alike - have probably never had such an attentive and informative welcome than they've had this year with Glen Maddison on board; quite apart from being a hit with our guests, Glen's put in sterling service behind the scenes to ensure that 2015 has been another successful year at the Obs. Many thanks to Glen for all his efforts.